Ah, so we finally reach the end of this saga... and, in my mind, a good ending it is. This chapter is also one of my favorites in the entire story, in retrospect. By this point, Darkness is very, very angry. Angry enough to take the ultimate risk. But not for quite some time, so don't hold your breaths.



-



In the ruins of a crushed temple, North Kioshin got to his feet. Piccolo had not noticed him, as he had already been knocked into the temple when the Namek arrived. The Darkness in the Kioshins had noticed. His black eyes flickered, and then North Kioshin smirked.

Leaping into the sky, he quickly teleported. Piccolo was attempting to do something that would majorly hinder their plans. He would not be allowed to continue.



While he flew, Piccolo suddenly felt Dai Kioshin's energy, locked in combat with another power. A power that reeked of Darkness. So he had been beaten to him. Putting on another burst of speed, Piccolo flew to the site of the battle, hoping that he was not too late.



Appearing on Dai Kioshin's planet, North Kioshin found the old ruler and approaching him softly from behind. Even so, Dai instantly realized he was there.

"Why aren't you at your post?" Dai Kioshin said irritably, getting up from his chair. In front of him, on different seeing crystals, events unfolded throughout the Afterlife.

"Idiot," North Kioshin muttered, and smashed his superior with a devastating backhand. Dai Kioshin flew back, demolishing part of his building. Getting to his feet, he shot a look of pure malice at North Kioshin.

"Fool!" he spat. "You dare to attack to the ruler of the entire galaxy?"

Crossing the gap easily and striking him again, North Kioshin followed up by ramming a knee into Dai Kioshin's gut, doubling him over. Kicking, North Kioshin sent him flying once more. Landing on his feet, Dai launched a stream of electricity, but North raised his sword and deflected the blast. Throwing back his arms, Dai launched all his power out toward North. In response, North did the same, his own energy now tinged with Darkness. His power quickly encompassed Dai's, and then crushed it.

Walking to the fallen Kioshin, North bent down to look in his eyes. Darkness jumped from one to the other and began possessing Dai as well.

"Don't you see?" North smirked. "I've surpassed you. I don't even need this Darkness to beat you."

Just then, Piccolo dove into the battle, his leg catching North and sending him flying. His Namekiian hearing, however, had caught the last line. I don't even need this Darkness...

It deserved serious thought. Piccolo gave it some as he deflected North's attacks. What could that comment have really meant? Did it mean part of North Kioshin was still active, and that it agreed with Darkness? Maybe that was why it could possess him, because a certain side of him actually wanted that power. Or maybe it merely spoke of how Darkness was a force that lived in everyone.

Dai got to his feet, and Piccolo realized that he had been too late. Now both Kioshin's assaulted him, and Piccolo turned his full attention to defending himself. Soon, however, both began to wear out, and their blows came slower. When he saw a good opportunity, Piccolo struck North. With only himself, Dai couldn't defend and was also struck back. Both warriors came for him again, but now their attack was uncoordinated.

Firing a bolt of ki that knocked the sword from North's hands, Piccolo drove his knee into Dai Kioshin, who fell back and didn't look able to continue the fight. North continued flying and struck him, but the force merely knocked Piccolo back, dealing no serious damage. Spinning, Piccolo smashed North a final time, and the fight was over.

Concentrating again, Piccolo crystallized the Darkness in both of them. Taking out the other three orbs, Piccolo gazed at all five pieces of Darkness he had captured. They were all relatively small bits, as if Darkness didn't put too much emphasis on these possessions. Still, he needed to figure out how to destroy them. All too well he felt the fight Goku was experiencing, trying to stay alive against Eclipse's merciless assault.

But how? Putting all of his mind to work, Piccolo tried to unravel the problem. How could he destroy this Darkness?



Goku was struck by another wave of ki. Struggling to raise his arms in defense, he managed to at least survive the blast. Eclipse struck him from above, and he plummeted.



Perhaps there was a way, Piccolo realized. He had the logistics figured out, by all rights it should have worked. But it didn't, something was missing. For now, there was nothing he could do. Yet, if he didn't figure this out fast enough, Goku was finished.



Three more blows struck Goku, and he fell and struck the ground. Unable to get up, he could only watch as Eclipse floated over him, laughing. Strangely, Goku found his thoughts wandering. If he died now, would he just appear a little bit up in the Afterlife? Would he have two halos? Would he be healed and able to keep fighting?

Above him, Eclipse gathered energy around himself, then rushed down in a slicing blow.



That was it! Things suddenly clicked together for Piccolo. He had been looking at the whole thing from the wrong direction! Thinking of North Kioshin again had reminded him. Light wasn't the absence of Darkness, Darkness was the absence of Light. His thinking had been backwards the entire time.

Instantly his former plan worked. It was a relatively simple matter, now. Snapping his fingers, Piccolo shattered all of the spheres. They exploded in golden light, and when it faded, there was nothing left.



Eclipse's eyes widened in horror as the beaten Goku suddenly shuddered with a flurry of golden energy. His downward dive was stopped and he found himself being blasted backward as a gigantic column of white power exploded from Goku. Barely weathering the blast, Eclipse glanced down to see Goku on his feet.

Something had happened. The balance that had been so in his favor was no longer so overwhelming. His own strength was majorly sapped, and Goku's power increased to fill the gap. Leaping upward, the saiyan delivered a move that sent Eclipse flying. Healing his chin, Eclipse realized that it burned, almost like Goku's aura had begun to set fire to it. Why would that be?

The two began fighting once again, but new power filled Goku. As they remained locked in close combat, their auras licked at each other, neither gaining the upper hand.



18!

She instantly glanced up, hearing her name very clearly in her head. No one was around except Pakihaun, who still couldn't speak. Of course, she quickly realized, it must be Piccolo.

What? she tried to voice her thoughts. Piccolo's presence drew nearer.

I have this figured out. We have to work quickly, because Goku's life is in serious peril.

I know.

Alright. First off, you have to understand that Light is not the absence of Darkness, it's the other way around. That changes everything. So now, we basically just need to add some Light to the mix. Don't focus on it, however, it will happen automatically. Now do the crystallization thing until the third motion. That's just the setup. Then, do anything you can think of, snap your fingers, it doesn't matter, and you'll trigger the reaction.

Right.

Doing it as he had said, 18 managed to pull it off on her second try. The crystalline orbs shattered.

Goku and Eclipse both landed, facing off with each other. Injuries covered both, both breathed heavily. Suddenly there was another outpouring of light around Goku. Raising his arms and forming a shield, Eclipse managed to stand up to the blast. He realized that it must have happened again, that more Darkness had been banished. His own strength wasn't decreased though, so maybe it had accomplished nothing.

Glancing up, he realized that he was very wrong. A glittering sphere of light surrounded Goku and slices of light occasionally burst forth from it. These were painful if they hit, so Eclipse found himself mostly concerned with avoiding them. The sphere began contracting, and it seemed to surround Goku's form, which was bathed in constant light. As the light surrounded him, it then seemed to infuse into him.

His golden hair suddenly smoothed, shooting straight up. As the energy passed, it fell down on his back, looking completely unlike normal spiked saiyan hair. Instead of golden, it glowed a hot white, but the color seemed to be swiftly changing from golden to white to something else he couldn't describe, as if it couldn't decide which color to become. Somewhere along the whole transformation, his halo had been shattered. The aura surrounding him was nearly clear, but it was a tangible presence. Goku opened his eyes, and his irises were a molten white.

"You linked us to good and evil," Goku finally said, his voice contained authority absent from it before. "And you prospered from it. Let's see how you like it when the balance tips in my favor."

"What are you?"

"I am the Light Super Saiyan."

Unable to think correctly, Eclipse merely backed away, horrified. Before he knew what was happening, Eclipse felt Goku's fist slam into him, and he was falling backward, where another blow smashed into him once more. Falling to the ground, he found that the brilliant flames had spread to him now. It was all he could do to put them out with his own Darkness.

Trying to look at Goku, Eclipse found it difficult; the mere sight of him caused pain.

"No!" Eclipse roared. "I won't be beaten like this!"

Around him, legions of dark manifestations began appearing. The earth cracked open and more crawled from it. An army of Darkness surrounded Eclipse, who continued creating more even as they massed.

"I'll kill you!" he practically screamed. "Destroy him!"

There was a slightly amused smile on Goku's face. He raised a hand and a bolt of light shot from the ground. It encompassed the entire army, blazing into the sky, slicing through part of Snake Way like paper. In an instant the army was dust. At the center of it, Eclipse tried to fight the overwhelming Light. What remained of him was swept away as the beam coursed upward.

With Eclipse's death, Goku returned to his original form. His eyes faded to a normal blue, his hair became black and sprung up to its normal position. The cuts on Goku's gi and skin were healed now. Still, though his body was better, his soul felt extremely tired.



Piccolo smiled. So it had worked. This battle, at least, was won. It would be foolish to believe Darkness was finished, but it had suffered a major defeat. Around him, the boundaries of reality were once again restructuring. He realized a second later that with reality reestablished, Goku and 18 were going to be thrown back to their own dimension. Had it already happened? Scanning the Afterlife, Piccolo found no trace of them. Down on Earth, he felt two large kis.

Ah well, they knew that they had done well. It did not need to be said.



Darkness recoiled, falling away from reality. There would be other times. Those who had stopped it would pay the ultimate price. Time meant nothing to it. It could wait.



Dai Kioshin smirked. Overall, things hadn't gone so bad. True, he now knew that North Kioshin directly opposed him, and getting possessed and then beaten by Piccolo hadn't been enjoyable. That paled, though, in comparison to what he had gained. Darkness had been beaten, and beaten badly. His plan would have to be changed slightly, but it would work. There was no more unknown variable to be dealt with. This was no hindrance in the overall scheme of things.

His losses were minimal. Many of the warriors had died, but they had hardly mattered in the first place. All of the Kais that had died could be replaced with people more loyal to his cause. The destroyed buildings could be repaired with little effort. His apprentice had died, and that was a minor annoyance. But he already had another Apprentice, and if he succeeded, it would matter very little.

High in the Afterlife, Dai Kioshin laughed.



Pakihaun smashed the tree, sending it flying over the horizon. For all his power, he had been useless in the battle. Darkness had easily possessed him, but even with all the power that gave him, it didn't matter. He had been beaten, pulverized, by some warrior. Before, he had thought none could stand up to him.

Not the next time. He would train. He would work. He would surpass himself and become the greatest warrior the Afterlife had ever seen. The Celestial Fighters were almost entirely destroyed, but he'd get more. Then, they'd once again be the greatest fighting force in the universe.



18 felt a force violently rip her from the Afterlife. For an instant she had the feeling that she was traveling somewhere, but it passed swiftly and she was a few feet off the ground. Easily landing on her feet, she recognized that they were exactly where they had been before Piccolo called them. Goku was already there, looking off into the setting sun. Had the entire experience only taken half a day?

"The boundaries of the Afterlife are restored, and it kicked us out," Goku explained, sensing her presence.

She didn't say anything, merely walked over to stand beside him. The last rays of the sun continued to peek over the horizon, leaving the world not quite cloaked in darkness.

"Things worked out pretty well, didn't they?" Goku turned to smile at her.

"I suppose," 18 responded. "Do you think Darkness will be back?"

"We can't have destroyed it with that. I can guarantee it won't be back for a while. But whether that time will be a few years, or the rest of our lifetimes, I couldn't tell you."

"Whoever would have thought what we called truth would be so important?"

"Yeah. Before, that was all about just the three of us. Now it's on a cosmic level. What happened to you after we split up?"

"I fought a Celestial Fighter. Piccolo and I both imprisoned Darkness, and he figured out how to destroy it."

"Ah. That must have been what helped me so much."

"What happened to you?"

"I'll explain the whole thing in detail later. For now, I'm kind of tired."

"Really?"

Goku blinked, considered for a moment, then laughed.

"Actually, I'm not tired at all! That's odd. I have absolutely no urge to sleep."

"Funny, neither do I."